A brilliant analysis of the distribution of global wealth and income across centuries. Piketty argues that because the return to capital (r) is greater than the economic and population growth rate (g) then wealth will continue to accumulate to the holders of capital. He proposes a global wealth tax to prevent this. See my full review of it here.

2. The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma

Set in 1990s Nigeria, the Fishermen is about four close brothers whose life and their father’s dreams fall apart after a man with mental illness prophesies that the eldest of them will be killed by one of them. A nice mixture of magical realism and historical fiction, these little boys are Continue reading →

In March this year Elnathan John, the Nigerian author of Born on a Tuesday, was in Ghana to promote his novel. I attended a reading he held at Vidya bookstore in Osu and I had a fun time. When we had the chance to ask him questions, a lot of them focused on his identity and the experience of growing up as a minority in Northern Nigeria (I admit I asked that question). One woman specifically asked him whether he felt the tale of a Hausa Muslim in Northern Nigeria was his to tell Continue reading →